Suggestions for working with a recruiter

From our vantage point, we’ve just about seen it all. It’s amazing how some clients and candidates are great to work with and others … well, let’s just say a little more challenging.

Have you ever wondered how best to leverage your relationship with your recruiter? I asked our recruiting team for a list of suggestions and here is what they came up with:

• Be totally open with your recruiter; he/she is a resource to you and can only help by having a complete understanding of your situation.
• Communicate and do it often. The converse to that is don’t call excessively if your recruiter doesn’t have new information about an opportunity. Realize he/she will get back to you at appropriate times.
• Use your recruiter for information within the industry. Our recruiters live in the world of multi-family property management and have a good ear for what is going on in the business.
• Understand our recruiting process. At The Cromwell Group, we have a 24 step process used for the purpose of doing a quality and complete job for both the client and candidate. Your understanding of that process will only help you.
• At offer time, be clear up front with what you expect in the offer. If you, as a candidate, keep coming up with new tidbits in the final stages of offer negotiation, it makes for more difficult negotiations and can result in the offer falling apart in the final hours.
• Listen to your recruiters recommendations. Realize we understand the requirements of the position from the clients perspective. By following our suggestions, you put yourself in the best position to shine in front of your potential employer.

If you are a candidate reading this, I hope this gives you a better insight into how to best use us as a resource. I would be interested in your comments as a candidate in your experiences with recruiters you’ve worked with (both good and bad)